E T C H E D
by Rowanshade
Summary: Antagonists and Protagonists are easy to be found. Villans and Heros can't hide from your sight. But murderers and liars can. They hide and coil themselves so deeply within your trust, that you don't see the monster within. Until it's too late.
1. P R O L O G U E

**Okay! So here's my shot at a warriors story! Mind you, the prologue is very short XP. Okay, so here's the run down. This story is kinda dark. Basically, this whole story is a murder mystery. Once in a while, we'll get a chappie with a cat who's POV is told in 'it'. No gender or fur color is given, and the only info you get is that it has green eyes. Chess. Anywho. I hope you all enjoy the story and stick around!**

**This is also set in SkyClan. But, thankfully, no kitty-warriors. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own warriors. **

"_Our minds are fragile and of the essence. They can do great things, our brains. Guide us through famine and poverty, attempt to show even the most frightened of us around, and even can make up combinations and maneuvers that are beyond our reach. So what happens when your mind unexplainably snaps? When anger, rage, hatred, and the need for revenge take over? A good cat can turn into a monster that no one can foretell. "_

"_The mind is very fragile."_

The night was like an outlook for the next day's events; the clear, glittery atmosphere foretold that tomorrow would be a sunny day. The warriors of the Silverpelt twinkled, their light shedding to the forest below, where the cats of SkyClan prowled.

Like a spooky, eerie calling, an owl hooted its midnight call, being the strongest and loudest of the other forest animal's voices. A stream lapped at the banks muddy shores, sparkling like morning dew in the moons silvery light.

A cat, strong and lean, bounded skillfully through the bushes, his green eyes glowing through the night with pure confidence. In one, easy stride, he leapt forward, his eyes adverting from their confidence to intense seriousness. His tongue lolling out of his mouth to lick his lips, a hefty paw swiped forward, catching a mouse between his sharp claws.

The mouse let out the last squeak it'd ever make before his fangs closed around its neck, causing him to grin with content as salty blood poured from its wound. Dropping the now-dead mouse on the floor, the tom sighed with relief at another good hunt.

_Ah, what have I caught tonight? _He thought, grinning and picking up his mouse for his long trip back to his camp. _This mouse, two thrushes, a rabbit, and a magpie…tonights a good hunt. _He yawned, the mouse falling from his jaws and rolling on the floor again. Letting out a gasp, he picked it up again, his ears flattened to his head.

_I pray that StarClan does not look down on me for that, _he thought, his green eyes flickering around as if he expected the starry cats to rain a thousand drops of water and lightning on him for disrespecting prey. _They ought' to be pleased that I'm feeding SkyClan so well. _His thoughts strayed to the Clan of the gorge, his eyes wandering to the distance, where no one could quite be pulled from and their eyes glassed over with the longing for that reality.

So, you can see how he didn't see _**it. **_

Crouched in the bushes, it's eyes adverted to it's prey, watching as he was completely submerged with thoughts of becoming leader, with his two kits-Falconkit and Eaglekit-watching with mesmerized expressions as their father lead their clan into good times.

It didn't care that he had two kits to take care of, with a fragile mate with the dreaded bone disease that could take her life any time. It didn't care that he was a kind. _Kill, kill. Hunt, hunt. _Those words became it's lullaby, a melody in it's head that played over and over. _Hungry…must feed…eat…. _The newest message made it's ears prick, before it growled, causing the tom to turn his head.

The dark gray tom's neck fur bristled, and he raised his muzzle to attempt to catch it's scent. _Good luck, Shadefur, _It thought, grimacing. _I covered my scent with chamomile and mud. Clever, huh? _It smiled even bigger as Shadefur shrugged, not even caring, and continued to walk nonchalantly along.

Hungry crackled through its' body, making it clench it's jaw in frustration. _I must eat now…so hungry… _It growled, before the feeling of hunger became too much to bare.

Launching itself forward, Shadefur was still unaware. It's paws were light and caressed through the bracken with ease. The stream cut off the forest from the gorge, and if it wanted a meal, then it needed to kill _now. _

A smile growing on it's lips, it crawled forward, watching as Shadefur treaded through the water with his prey clamped in his jaws. It watched his movements intently, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Shadefur sighed, his tail-tip twitching with irritation as water caused his paw to weigh down. Suddenly, like a crackle of thunder, a twig snapped behind him, and bracken ruffled.

Now becoming fully aware, he unsheathed his claws and turned, a steady growl coming from him. Only when he realized that he was the only one there, he sighed with relief, and slowly turned, only to freeze at the sight in front of him.

A shadowed figure, large and threatening, was standing before him, with blazing green eyes that pierced through his soul like he couldn't imagine those color eyes could do. He gasped, seeing that threatening and dark look in the cat's eyes.

Suddenly, like lightning, the shadow flashed forward, catching him off guard. He growled, blood oozing through his thick, stone-colored pelt. Rearing up, he was once again caught off guard as another blow hit his hind leg, causing him to splash into the stream.

He wanted to let out a terrified yowl, but the cat stopped him, striking him on the face. It insulted him beyond belief, and he hissed in pain slightly, before attempting to throw off his attacker. But whoever this cat was, they were immensely strong.

Shadefur attempted once more to throw off his attacker, when he felt his flesh being tugged. He looked over at his legs to see the cat trying to pry the flesh from his bones. In success, the cat had easily bitten off some of his flesh, giving him a gory smile.

And what happened next was better left unsaid.


	2. C H A P T E R 1

**Thank's Coqui's Song and Prin Pardus for reviewing! Your reviews are quite welcome :)**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Warriors dude.**

Slumber was dark and deep, untainted by the worldly events that happened in SkyClan. For the time being, she slept soundly, her flanks rising and falling slowly. Letting out a sigh of content, she curled into her ball tighter, allowing her tail to drape over her nose.

"Mosscloud!"

This urgent voice cut through the black wall that was her sleep, and caused her to blink open her tired green eyes. There, standing in front of her with an irritated expression, was SkyClan's deputy, Brambletail, and he looked none too pleased.

Brambletail grunted with annoyance, "You're up for the dawn patrol," he meowed, his pelt cracking with anger. _Sorry that I can't remember to wake up so early, _she thought, dipping her head despite her current anger and annoyance to the deputy.

"Yes, Brambletail," she replied, still annoyed from her broken sleep. The dark brown tabby stifled one more glare at her, before whipping around and stalking away from the warriors den, and into the bright sunlight.

As she padded from the den, it took a few moments for her eyes to become adjusted to the new light. After her rapid blinking, Mosscloud stared out into the clearing, wishing to see one of her friends lined up for the dawn patrol. Sadly, the only cats there were Patchclaw, Darkpelt, and Foxpaw.

_Not only am I the only she-cat, _had she thought, padding over to her clanmates. Patchclaw dipped his head, while Darkpelt twitched his ear and Foxpaw bounced up and down with excitement. _But I'm stuck with Foxpaw for the whole patrol! _The annoying, ginger apprentice squeaked with excitement, bounding up to stand beside Mosscloud as the patrol padded up the gorge.

"Mosscloud, won't this be fun? I love hunting, even though this is the border patrol, but it's still fun! Do you think we'll see a fox? I'm named after foxes! Do you think they'll try to eat me? Because, if they do, I'll fight them with my mad skills! And guess what? I think we might be close to the-" Foxpaw begun talking rapidly, before being cut off by an angered Mosscloud.

"You know what will be fun? If you take yourself and your mad skills up to the front of the patrol, and bother Darkpelt! That'll be awesome!" she hissed, using slight enthusiasm, because this was the only way to coax Foxpaw into doing anything.

Foxpaw flattened his ears to his head, looking a bit hurt, but he nodded nonetheless, and bounded up to the front of the patrol. Mosscloud sighed with content. _Thank StarClan! _

"Mosscloud, do you scent anything?" Darkpelt asked, turning to face her. _Great. I've just escaped Foxpaw, and now I have to bear Darkpelt. _Mosscloud sighed, holding up her muzzle in the air to taste for any scents.

_A lark…a tinge of the Twolegplace…a mouse…nothing out of the ordinary. _She thought, smiling to herself for her good nose.

"There's nothing unusual today, Darkpelt," she meowed, her tail-tip twitching. The black tom's golden eyes narrowed at her, but he nodded curtly, before turning around and scolding Foxpaw for getting into some mousebile or something.

Mosscloud filed behind Patchclaw, her tail-tip twitching in anxiety. _Come on, hurry. I'm supposed to meet Smallfeather later. _Her thoughts distracted her, her ears buzzing as she thought about her younger sister who so desperately wanted to show her something. Mosscloud hadn't asked what it was, knowing her sisters fragile and childish mind.

Smallfeather wasn't exactly mature, even though she was Mosscloud's age of twenty five moons and was a medicine cat apprentice. She often loved playing with the kits, much to Mosscloud's dislike when she was dragged along, and was sometimes scolded for getting underneath another's paws. _But the warriors shouldn't be so cruel to her, _she thought, her eyes going distant. _She's like a kit. _

Being so engrossed in her own thoughts, Mosscloud accidentally bumped into Patchclaw, causing the black-and-white tom to shoot her a glare over his shoulder.

"Sorry, Patchclaw," she meowed absently, the calico she-cat's ear twitching.

Patchclaw snorted, his tail lashing, before padding up the thick forest trail after Darkpelt and Foxpaw. Mosscloud growled silently, her claws digging into the damp soil for a moment, before she bounded after her patrol, feeling as though she'd be scolded by Darkpelt for some reason.

Her eyes flickered around the foliage, while her claws kneaded the ground anxiously as Darkpelt begun teaching Foxpaw how to distinguish the difference between badger and dog scents. _Oh, they're not that similar! Badgers stink of earth and bugs, whereas dogs stink more like foxes than anything. _She thought bitterly, waiting impatiently behind Patchclaw.

Foxpaw wasn't really paying attention; the small, ginger apprentice's golden eyes flickered around the forest, the sky, and other various things. "Hey, hey Darkpelt? Why is the sky blue?" he asked, reaching up his muzzle as if to touch the sky.

Mosscloud cocked her head to the side, and opened her mouth to say something, but Darkpelt beat her to it. "Why is the sky blue? What kind of a stupid question is that? Everyone knows that the sky is blue because StarClan willed it to be. Nothing more, nothing less," he snapped impatiently.

_I guess I understand why he's a grump… _Mosscloud stifled a small laugh as Foxpaw begun leaping around the bracken like an eager kitten._ Foxpaw must keep him up half of the night with all of his talking and nonsense. _

Foxpaw's mouth curled into a smile as he caught Mosscloud laughing. "Mosscloud, wanna play a game? It's called…well, I don't know what it's called, but it's fun, and-" Foxpaw was once again cut off as Darkpelt hissed bitterly,

"No, we are not playing a game! What we're doing is the border patrol, and that's it!"

Foxpaw's head hung slightly, but he nodded anyway, realizing that Darkpelt's attitude will only get worse if he kept on talking.

"That's better," Darkpelt said smugly, whisking around and padding off.

Mosscloud gave Foxpaw a brief glance, before padding after Darkpelt.

**_. . . . . _**

Mosscloud was quite happy to say that the rest of the patrol went very well, thank you very much. Foxpaw had stopped speaking; thank StarClan for it. Heading back to the gorge, Patchclaw insisted on going to the stream on their way back, saying that his throat was beginning to feel like a batch of sand.

Sighing, Mosscloud padded after them, feeling like a small apprentice who dragged longingly after her mentor. Her paws begun to ache, the pads scratched from skimming over a broken branch. Her dappled-and-white tail-tip twitched, but she remained quite.

Darkpelt padded through the thick sheet of bracken, his whole body snaking through the plant. Patchclaw followed him in suit, a shadow flickering across his green eyes as he neared the stream. Foxpaw bounced after them, and Mosscloud brought up the rear.

"Oh my StarClan!" Darkpelt exclaimed suddenly. Curiosity made Mosscloud's ears prick. Shoving her way through the bush, the calico warrior halted at the sight.

A loyal warrior, Shadefur, was in the stream, his body caked with dry and fresh blood. Mosscloud's nose burned from the stench of rotting flesh, one that she was surprised she didn't notice before. Her eyes quickly scanned Shadefur's dead body, and a feeling of grief shortly washed over her. _I wonder… _It was like a questionable thought, one that she couldn't think to say aloud.

Her thoughts were now directed to Shadefur's mate, Graysplash. The once bubbly, bright she-cat had recently been infected with a disease that made her skinny, her amber eyes have a hallow feeling, and the birth of her two kits – Eaglekit and Falconkit – almost killing her.

_Eaglekit and Falconkit's birth almost killed her, she only lived because she said Shadefur was the only thing for her to live for, _Mosscloud thought, her deep thoughts causing Darkpelt's sharp orders to become muffled to her ears, _Now that he's dead, will she become too depressed for her to take care of herself? _

"Mosscloud, get Thistlestar over here." Darkpelt snapped, not even waiting for an answer before turning to Patchclaw and Foxpaw. Mosscloud didn't wait another heartbeat before splashing through the purple-scarlet water, tainted with Shadefur's blood.

_We also will have to travel farther upstream to get untainted water. _She reminded herself, her tough pads finding the rocky gorge flooring immediately. She must have been a sight – with wet, scarlet blood-water dripping down her paws, and her green eyes looking around frantically for Thistlestar's long, white fur.

"Mosscloud, what happened?" She hardly registered that her good friend, Fireblaze, was talking to her, until he practically leaped in her path, cutting her off from her destination.

"I'll have time to tell you later, now **_move_**!" she hissed orderly, shoving him aside and running toward the leaders den. _Oh, why do we have to live in a gorge? _She thought angrily as she saw the large trail of rocks leading up to Thistlestar's den.

Gripping one of the rocks underneath her paw, she launched herself upward, onto the next rock. Some of the smaller rocks tumbled down underneath her weight, but she needn't worry about it. Mosscloud leaped amongst the rocks with great agility, until she reached to smooth-flooring of the small ledge outside the leaders den.

She padded inside of the leaders den without calling, halting as she saw Thistlestar and his mate, Ravenflight, having a deep conversation.

Shaking her head, she quickly spit out the words, "Thistlestar, we found Shadefur's body in the stream!" Thistlestar's head jerked up, his fur ruffled from shock.

"In the stream? What – on your patrol?" he asked, his golden gaze wide and searching hers. Ravenflight's green gaze was almost as wide as her mates.

"Yes, yes, on the patrol," she almost snapped, but reminded herself that she was still talking to her leader, no matter how big this message was.

Thistlestar's tail lashed, but he murmured something to Ravenflight, and followed Mosscloud down the trail quickly. Their hard paw pads – a SkyClan inheritance – made the journey exceptionally easy, but once they touched the smooth, leveled floor, cats who wanted to know what was going on crowded them.

Thistlestar shooed them with a sweep of his tail, before bounding toward the stream and to the camp entrance. Mosscloud followed him, her gaze set on the entrance, but it slowly went to the direction of the nursery.

The kind and weak Graysplash stood outside, staring at Mosscloud with hollow eyes. Eaglekit and Falconkit poked their heads out of the nursery, blinking their kitten blue eyes in wonder.

"Do you think they found Dad?" Falconkit asked his brother, his voice squeaky and still young.

Graysplash looked at her kits, before slowly looking at Mosscloud. Her hallow eyes – hallow with sickness and the grief of knowing that she'll pass someday, any day – were pleading, as if she wanted Mosscloud's solid answer right now.

_I wish I could right now…but I need to go. _She thought sadly, returning her vision back to Thistlestar and the slope of the gorge. Mosscloud bounded easily up the slope, her strong hind legs helping her in catching up to her worried leader.

Thistlestar's long white coat was easily spotted through the thick foliage, so Mosscloud's eyes weren't put to too much strain. Stopping at the stream, Thistlestar's golden eyes widened at the horrific sight that was Shadefur's body. It was rather sad, really. The once-kind, smart, and clever cat was now meaty, some evident bite marks on his body, ragged flesh, and claw and slash marks.

Thistlestar shook his head, his eyes filled with grief. "Who could have done this?" It wasn't a question to be answered.

**_. . . . . _**

Mosscloud sighed, watching as Patchclaw and Darkpelt carried – well, it seemed a bit like dragged – Shadefur's body back to camp, their eyes hiding any emotion they'd normally be feeling. _I don't know how they'll do it when they see Graysplash, _she thought, picturing the gray-and-white she-cats somber and hollow expression. _Because I know I can't handle it. _

Mosscloud sighed, trying to drain out the shocked gasps of her clanmates and friends. She lifted her muzzle, trying to single out Graysplash's scent from the rest of the cats gathered. _I suppose I can try and comfort her, _she thought, her eyes raking across the pelts of more than a dozen cats, _after all, she's one of the only cat's who is nice to Smallfeather. _

Graysplash was at the front of the nursery, not even bothering to move her kits aside or cover them with her tail. Her hollow eyes seemed to be drained of life as she stared at her mates' unmoving body. Another queen, Whiteflower, slid her head through the entrance, before stopping upon seeing Shadefur's body.

Seeing Graysplash's unmoving form, Whiteflower coaxed Falconkit and Eaglekit into the nursery. Mosscloud gulped hesitantly. Maybe talking to Graysplash could wait.

_Oh darn, I almost forgot! Smallfeather and her stupid thing she has to show me… She should be with Jaystreak in the medicine cat den, though. _Mosscloud sighed, letting Darkpelt explain what happened on the border patrol. They wouldn't notice if she left for a few moments.

Mosscloud's gaze flickered around the speechless cats of SkyClan, all trying to decipher what happened to the loyal warrior. _I am truly sorry, Shadefur. But Smallfeather wants me to go…and I can't let her down. I'll hold my silent vigil tonight. _She sighed, before bounding away, toward the entrance of SkyClan camp.

_This better be good, Smallfeather. _

**_. . . . . _**

"Yay, Mosscloud! I _knew_ you'd come!" Mosscloud shouldered her way through a clump of bracken, her pads aching from a pebble the refused to leave the crevice of her pad. Mosscloud looked up, seeing her younger sister by an hour, Smallfeather, standing in a relatively small clearing.

Mosscloud couldn't shake her irritation. "This had better be good, Smallfeather. Did you know that Shadefur's dead? Darkpelt, Foxpaw, Patchclaw, and I found his body in the stream this morning." She hissed, not actually meaning to sound so harsh, but at the time being, she didn't care.

The small light brown tabby didn't seem to notice, her childish behavior taking over. "Mosscloud, if you follow me, you'll see what I have to show you!" she squeaked, her green eyes glowing.

Mosscloud felt once again irritated with her narrow minded sister. "Smallfeather, did you hear me? I said that we found Shadefur's body in the stream! I had to leave camp – well, it's probably more of sneaked out – and now I have to see the stupid thing that you want me to see!"

Smallfeather stopped, and looked at her, before sniffing, "It's not stupid," This caused Mosscloud's shoulder fur to bristle, "and you'll love it."

She growled silently, before treading after her sister angrily. _I don't know how she's not affected by Shadefur's death, and why this stupid 'thing' is so important. _Mosscloud unsheathed her claws, using them to cut down some bracken fronds that were intruding her path. While she followed her sister, she did remember a conflictive incident between her sister and Shadefur.

_Maybe it's because when Smallfeather was playing with Falconkit and Eaglekit, Shadefur shooed her away and acted as if she were a fox playing with his kits. _She remembered, bristling as she recalled Shadefur's insulting words, calling her a 'kit-brained, no good pest'. Sure, Mosscloud would admit that Smallfeather played too much and spoke with a young voice, but she wasn't a pest. But Mosscloud wouldn't deny that her sister wasn't very smart either.

"If you want to see it, you'll have to close your eyes." Smallfeather's voice snapped her from her thoughts, causing Mosscloud to ruffle her fur.

Sighing, she closed her eyes. She felt Smallfeather's short-furred tail touch her spine, guiding her toward somewhere ahead.

"Just follow wherever I take you…don't stray from the path..." Smallfeather meowed softly, guiding her along. Mosscloud growled quietly, quite annoyed that she was being ordered by her younger sister.

"Smallfeather, I honestly think we should be getting back to-" Mosscloud was cut off as Smallfeather removed her tail, allowing Mosscloud to see what she wanted her to see.

Long, bright green stalks of grass blew slightly in the breeze, the sunlight turning their sides and their tips a limey-green and golden color. But behind the stalks of grass was a small cave, muddy brown and surrounded by pine trees. She instantly remembered this place.

_Wait – this is where Mother and Father first fell in love, and where we came as kits, and where Mother died… _Mosscloud heaved a heavy sigh. She promised herself that she'd never want to come back here, where her mother had been attacked by a fox. That attack was what also made her father, Oakclaw, break his leg and made him retire into the elders den early.

"Why did you bring me here?" she asked, jerking her gaze away from the cave and to her sister.

"Because you're _always_ so serious! I'm like 'let's go to the clearing', and you're like 'no!'. You really need to loosen up, sis!" Smallfeather purred, prancing around the clearing.

_How can I be calm when one of my clanmates was murdered? Smallfeather's pretending like it didn't happen! _"How can you act like this when Shadefur's dead?" she blurted out.

Smallfeather stopped prancing and turned to her. "He's in a better place, right?" she asked Mosscloud, her whiskers twitching.

Mosscloud bristled. "So? You're a medicine cat apprentice for StarClan's sake! At least show some respect toward him!" she snapped, whirling around and padding off.

"Wh-where are you going?" Smallfeather called after her.

Mosscloud didn't turn back, and continued to stomp off. "Back to camp." She hissed icily.

She felt Smallfeather's gaze burn on her pelt. "W-why?" she squeaked, sounding hurt.

Mosscloud's tail lashed. "Because you need to grow up." And this time, Smallfeather did not say another word. Only silence followed.


End file.
